Minority Health and Health Equity Archive
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21769
Welcome to the Minority Health and Health Equity Archive (MHHEA), an electronic archive for digital resource materials in the fields of minority health and health disparities research and policy. It is offered as a no-charge resource to the public, academic scholars and health science researchers interested in the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities.
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Item AN EXPLORATION OF BODY IMAGE PERCEPTION IN AN AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION(2009) Amburgey, KimberlyThis study examined body image perception among participants of the Healthy Black Family Project (HBFP) through the Center for Minority Health. As part of this examination, body image perception of the participants' social networks, differences between ethnicities, and the association of disease risk with body image perception were studied. METHODS: The participants' perceptions of body image were assessed using responses in words as well as pictures. Body image satisfaction was assessed by comparing current and ideal bodies selected from a pictorial scale. Chi-square analysis and Fisher's Exact tests were performed to assess the accuracy of the participants' perceptions of body image in comparison to measured BMI. Body image perceptions of the social networks were compared with the participants' perceived and measured BMI using ANOVA and linear regression analysis. Comparisons between ethnicities were also assessed using Fisher's Exact test and 95% confidence intervals. Risk perception between weight categories was assessed using ANOVA and Fisher's Exact tests.RESULTS: This analysis revealed body image perceptions underestimated measured BMI's. Consistent with other published studies, females wished to lose weight, while males wished to remain the same or gain weight. Obese participants were more accurate in assessing their weight category using the pictorial scale, while normal weight participants were more accurate in words. The majority of social networks were perceived as obese and participants of both genders associated with female family members of similar size. HBFP participants perceived larger bodies as obese than a previously studied Caucasian population and female participants chose larger bodies as ideal. Disease risks were not consistently associated with body image perceptions.CONCLUSIONS: In this population, significant differences in body image perception exist. Accuracy of body image differs between weight categories and body image satisfaction differs between genders. In contrast to Caucasian populations, different perceptions of obesity exist and larger female bodies are perceived as ideal. PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE: Programs involving disease prevention and weight management should involve components of body image perception education. In order for these education programs to be more effective, they should include factors that encompass differences in ethnicity, gender, and weight class.Item Racial/Ethnic Disparities, Social Support, and Depression: Examining a Social Determinant of Mental Health(2012) Shim, Ruth S.; Ye, Jiali; Baltrus, Peter; Fry-Johnson, Yvonne; Daniels, Elvan; Rust, GeorgeAbstract available at publisher's website.Item Devising, Implementing, and Evaluating Interventions to Eliminate Health Care Disparities in Minority Children(2009) Flores, G.Abstract available at publisher's website.Item Black--White Disparities in Disability Among Older Americans: Further Untangling the Role of Race and Socioeconomic Status(2009) Fuller-Thomson, E.; Nuru-Jeter, A.; Minkler, M.; Guralnik, J. M.Abstract available at publisher's website.Item Superwoman Schema: African American Women's Views on Stress, Strength, and Health(2010) Woods-Giscombe, C. L.Abstract available at publisher's website.Item Thirty-Day Readmission Rates for Medicare Beneficiaries by Race and Site of Care(2011) Joynt, K. E.; Orav, E. J.; Jha, A. K.Abstract available at publisher's website.Item A Qualitative Exploration of the Influence of Culture and Extended Family Networks on the Weight-related Behaviors of Urban African American Children(2011) Brown, Natasha A.Background: Childhood obesity is a public health problem with significant long-term implications and racial/ethnic disparities. African American extended family members play a significant role in child rearing and socialization, and research suggests that grandparents, in general, may influence children’s weight-related behaviors. There is, however, a lack of research exploring how urban African American children’s relationships with extended family members may influence children’s weight-related behaviors. Therefore, this study examines how extended family members’ roles and responsibilities may influence urban African American children’s weight-related behaviors, how extended family members socialize children to adopt weight-related behaviors, and how extended family members’ socialization practices may differ from those of primary caregivers. Methods: This study builds upon and extends the work of a previous, mixed-methods study of 31 primary caregiver-child dyads, which was designed to examine household and neighborhood factors related to childhood obesity. In Phase 2, individual semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 8 Baltimore City children; paired interviews were conducted with their primary caregivers and one adult member of each child’s extended family. Manuscript 1 combines qualitative data from both studies to present case studies of the 4 families that participated in both studies. Manuscripts 2 and 3 focus on data collected from Phase 2’s 8 family units, and present detailed analyses of familial influences on children’s physical activity and dietary behaviors, respectively. Findings: Manuscript 1 indicates that mothers and extended family members may differ in their influences on children’s weight-related behaviors, which may be related to differences in the adults’ roles and responsibilities with the children. Manuscript 2 suggests that extended family members may be more physically active with children; this may be influenced by perceived familial closeness and different relationship dynamics. Manuscript 3 indicates that children are consistently taught to value food-based family traditions; however, adults may be inconsistent in the socialization strategies used in day-to-day dietary routines. These findings suggest that future family-based obesity interventions for African American children should extend beyond the immediate family to include key extended family members and consider the extended family networks’ norms and values.Item Differences Between African American and White Research Volunteers in Their Attitudes, Beliefs and Knowledge Regarding Genetic Testing for Alzheimer’s Disease(2011) Akinleye, Ibidapo; Roberts, J. Scott; Royal, Charmaine D. M.; Linnenbringer, Erin; Obisesan, Thomas O.; Fasaye, Grace-Ann; Green, Robert C.Abstract available at publisher's web site.Item The three leading causes of death in African Americans: barriers to reducing excess disparity and to improving health behaviors.(1999) Feldman, R H; Fulwood, RAfrican Americans suffer disproportionately from several major health problems associated with high morbidity and mortality. The 1985 DHHS Secretary's Task Force Report on Blacks and Other Minorities identified six major disease categories of excess deaths for African Americans compared with whites by applying the lower death rate for whites to the American population. The report provided a stimulus for public and private action to begin to address the health disparities between minority and nonminority populations. This article examines three of the leading causes of death for African Americans and assesses the extent to which the health disparity between African Americans and whites has been reduced. The three leading causes of death for African American males are diseases of the heart, cancer, and HIV infection/AIDS. The conditions are the same for African American females except stroke replaces HIV infection. Three health outcomes measures are discussed: life expectancy, excess death rates, and years of potential life lost. A widening of the gap between the races was found for diseases of the heart and HIV infection for males and for cancer for females. An extensive list of barriers to reducing the disparity are presented from the scientific literature and strategies for reducing the three health problems are recommended.Item Health risk and inequitable distribution of liquor stores in African American neighborhood(2000) LaVeist, Thomas A; Wallace, John MAbstract available at publisher's web site.